Dr. Scott Page

Improving Collective Decision Making and Performance: Why Diversity Matters

Dr. Scott Page

DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

September 18, 2014

Video: Stevens Credentials Are Required For Access→
Lecture Summary: Diversity: Leveraging the Power of Difference→

ABSTRACT: Why can teams of people find better solutions than brilliant individuals working alone? And why are the best group decisions and predictions those that draw upon the very qualities that make each of us unique? 

Dr. Scott Page's key insight: Groups made up of intelligent people who have different perspectives, mindsets and ways of solving problems can make more accurate predictions and solve problems more effectively than groups of 'experts.'

BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Scott Page is an expert on improving collective performance and decision making. He researches how diversity improves performance and decision making, when 'diversity' means not what we look like on the outside, rather than what we look like within — the tools and abilities that make each of us unique. He is the Director of the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at the University of Michigan where he serves as the Leonid Hurwicz Collegiate Professor of Complex Systems, Economics, and Political Science. He is also an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute. In 2013, Scott Page was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in Social Sciences/Political Science for his achievements in research. He is the author of The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, addressing how we think in groups and why collective wisdom works, and Diversity and Complexity, an introduction to the role of diversity in complex adaptive systems. He also consults with corporations and nonprofits on market and organizational performance.

This lecture was sponsored by the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost.